Method of delinting cotton-seed hulls and recovering uncut seed.



H. E. SESSIONS. METHOD OF DELINTING COTTON SEED HULLS AND RECOVERING UNCUT SEED.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I?, T915. v

Patented Jan. 15 T1918.

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carried out `With theV large 'to go"ftlirough `tlie`j"siie`eni1`ig^devibe which separates the iiieat's'''t1"(` mA the hulls. "My inifentio'n alsof conteniplates'fseparating I these uncut seed -lfroinl the hulls sothey `may `be. returned to" the halters: "In" uns-way the www ramena? orifice.

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To all whom #may homer@ f it 'known that l", HUGHTE. SESSIONS, a

citizen oit the; Unitcdi'StatesQand residentof Columbia, county of Richland, State of South Carolina, 'have invented certain lnew iinting C ottonSeed"` Hullsl'and Recovering Uncut 'Seech of" which thefoll'owmg 11s a specification.

f his' 'invention "relates" toA thefreirtoval of "tine particles off lint trmcotto'n' seed liulls after the meats have been removed vl'1on`1\the as near as possible; 'taking themeats out of the hulls" whole.- This `is for the reason that So, thecoarser A"the" ,"fhullin'g' Within' reason, the less loss'the'rewill beinseparatingithe VA:meats"'roni'the hiillsyindfthe lint'jon the `-hulls will then be "practicallytree-oit meats and maybe mo1e"readily removed. Thebe'st scpara'tionis*obtained Wlientlie "cut seed to 'passdhrough thelliuller.` The uncut seed that page thronfghythel huilen are lfu'lls,`- as:` they" are' too seed passing through the hullers uncut are reclaimed*when other'itse they would have been carried out with the hulls and sold with the" Huug i at ieee than aftermath *the prie@ they are Worth,1n other Words, they would be sold as hulls at about ten dollars per ton when the seed are Worth about forty dollars 'per ton. as at this time.

The hulls are rather light and somewhat brittle and before they Were removed from the meats the effort had been made bythe linting machines to remove all of the lint from the seed. Some short particles'of lint, however. still adhere to the hull and that lint is ot value and it is the purpose of the present invention to remove as much of it as possible from the hulls Without materially injuring or changing the characteristics of f fstanziataofteasiaea-l warmte@ am; 135mm fAppneaumtaieene'ceaiter it; 1915. Vserial No: 67,461.

the hulls themselves. `Ithas heretofore been f` kproposed to y remove some of this lint `by methods `or "machines 'ivhiclr niale 'use ofa "rubbing-action but it `has been `'found that *while this vmay remove' some of the Klint it "atthe same time so changes the "aiiipearance and condition of the hulls that theyare no longermarketabletor the same'jpurpose as I hulls not so treated. Ihave.discovered that the *lint may bef removedfby "subjectiiigfthe fjhu'lls to 'a 'rapid succession of" small" cutting blows whichi loosen the l-lint'rfroi'n the hull and which may to a certain: ext-ent :also dis- *integrate the" hulls The* ylint "and" hullsto- `gethenfare` then" passed in a"1"s"catteiied` or separate" condition throughan' o'pen space `1 -`andv subjected to" *the `action lo Ia?" gentle cur- -`ren'of1 air passing through them, the 'current being siittcientfto carry'olt the loosened "parti'cle's ofl lintihut not su'iiicientf* to" carry oli theffheatier particles olhulls. E `r "My process mayi'lcouis-i' carried out by the"V use` of varioustorms 'ofmechanism sloutas illustratiijig one form which has been `found practicable for the' purpose, reference iis i'rade to the"iiccompanying drawingA The drawing consists lof cross'sectionoi' V-al*"machine Vadapted t'o' "carryL outv my process. lfn` the:` drawing, "10 represents the outer nea'sirlg "Within" W'lii'ch l the operating' mechalnismf is' contained. rlhe"nfec'h'anism includes 'saw cylinder` 11 of 'the same Atype las* those rused intordinary delintingmachines@ The saivldisks "pass "in lietivee'nr adj acent` ribs 12. jbrushcyliiider 1d? is mounted in thecasing `u'i'ith the ends ot the lloristlest'ilnio'st toifiching thel'satv teethand'this brush cylin'der has a i' greater" "peripheralfspeed` tlifanl-tliesatv cyliindeiz The hulls alijldlunciit "which passedttinnughthe helling niaehineare fed to the delinting and separating machine by any' "suitable eedi n g""`devi`ce i illustrated "dia- ""lgaiiimatically at 9 and they enter the space in a shower with the lint. The Hoat 13 in the chamber 13 is used to assist in agitating the mixture of hulls and seed 1n the chamber, the seed being separated from the hullsat the lower part of the chamber 13 for the reason that the ribs are so close together that the whole seed will not pass through them, and the whole seed naturally being heavier will work their way down to the bottom of the chamber 13 and will be discharged through the opening 25, which may be provided with a hinged closure adapted to be opened when desired. From the opening 25 the whole seed are discharged into a conveyer 31, and these seed are returned to the hullers along with the other seed to be hulled.

In operation the saw teeth engage the hulls giving to them rapid cutting blows which Serve to remove the particles of lint from them and the saw teeth not only carry the lint between the ribs 12 but also carry7 the hulls themselves. The hulls and lint are then brushed downward by the brush cylinderfrom the saw teeth and are discharged in a shower or scattered condition into the openspace in the casing below the saw and brush. They pass downwardly through the air and by reason of the arrangement of the adjustable board 16 in reference to the'brush cylinder 14 a current of air willpass upwardly through the falling particles toward the lint discharge outlet 26. Theparticles of lint will float downwardly andwill gradually be arrested in their descent bv the rising current of air and by reason of the particular arrangement there will be a regulated cyclone-like movement of the air carrying off the lint, as indicated by the arrows, but permitting the vhulls to pass downward. At the bottom of the apparatus I preferably provide a conveyer 20 into which the delinted hulls fall, an adjustable partition 22 serving to guide them into the conveyer on one side and the partition 2l serving to guide them on the other side. I find that the rapid action of the saw teeth on the hulls not only serves to efectually break lose the lint but at the same time it leaves the hulls themselves in the same loose physical condition which they had prior to the operation and therefore the hulls have the same value commercially as if they had not been subjected to this delinting operation. Knowing that the uncut seed mixed with the hulls will be reclaimed, a coarser hullingis permissible in the first place, which improves the separation of the meats from the hulls, and also enables the lint on the latter to be more readily removed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. The method of removinglint from cotton seed hulls which consists in subjecting successive portions of a confined body of hulls to the action of the teeth of a moving saw passing between closely adjacent ribs whereby successive portions of said hulls,

will be removed from said confined body, will be broken and carried through said ribs and the fine particles of lint torn loose therefrom, brushing the hulls and lint so removed from the confined body downward through space in a scattered condition and Y passing a gentle current `of air through said falling material to a lint discharge, the said current being sutiicientlystrong to carry olf the lint but not the hulls. g

2. rIhe method of removing lint from cotton seed hulls and recovering the uncut seed from a mixture ofv cotton seed hulls and uncut cotton seedwhich com )rises subjectto the action of the teeth of amoving saw whereby successive portions of said hulls will be removed from said confined body and fine particles of lint-.torn loose therelng a confined body of uncut seed and hulls from separating the uncutseed from the confined body of seed and hulls, discharging the hulls and lint so removed downward through a space ,in a scattered Vcondition and passing a gentle current of air through said fallingV material to a lint discharge, the said current being sufficiently strong to carry oft' the lint but not the hulls.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HUGH sessions.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for vercents each, 'by addressing the Commissioner et Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

